Child and adolescent mental health and addiction services in the Halifax Regional Municipality

"On June 14, 2013 the Government of Nova Scotia received an external review of the Halifax Regional School Board's support of Rehtaeh Parsons. Recommendations from this review were accepted by the Minister Responsible for the Advisory Council on the Status of Women, including commissioning an expert independent review of the mental health and addiction (MHA) programs and services of the IWK Health Centre (IWK) and the Capital District Health Authority (CDHA). An independent review was subsequently undertaken by the authors, with the agreement of the appropriate departments, to focus on the continuum of mental health services available to children and youth within the IWK and CDHA, and on the flow of children and youth into, through, and out of these services. Five key questions, outlined in the Terms of Reference provided by the Department of Health and Wellness, provided a focus for the review. To summarize, the intent of the review was to examine current IWK and CDHA treatments and counseling services and policies, procedures, and guidelines as they relate to accepted/national best practices for the needs of youth in areas of assessment, triage, referral, treatment, and follow-up care. Policies, procedures, and guidelines were considered in a context of best practices regarding follow-up for youth assessed at risk of self-harm or suicide at a level not requiring hospitalization. In addition, the educational and support needs of families/care providers were examined. Finally, IWK and CDHA policies were examined for evidence of collaboration in providing mental health and substance-use services to youth."--Executive summary.